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Vote Like Your Life Depends On It

The Right to Vote is a Cornerstone of American Democracy

In 1999, I had the privilege of working as a medium-term observer with The Carter Center’s mission to monitor the electoral process in Mozambique’s second multi-party Presidential election. As part of a multi-national team of ten, I traveled across vast stretches of northern Mozambique observing and documenting the process. Having survived a brutal civil war and twenty-four year rule under a single party state, Mozambican citizens’ participation in the process was exceptionally high. Incredibly, most Mozambicans walked for many hours, in dry +90° heat, to reach their voter registration sites. Upon arrival, they waited patiently for several more hours to register and, then, walked many miles back home through the night. A few months later, in December 1999, they repeated the grueling journey to cast their ballots. Mozambicans expressed to me their fierce pride in being able to participate and in having won the right to vote. They refused to let the long distances, lack of transportation or the heat stand in the way of casting their ballots and making their voices heard. Despite the challenges, voter turnout was very high, especially among women. Official numbers show that close to 70% of the electorate voted in the 1999 Presidential election.

In the 2016 US Presidential election, voter turnout was estimated at 58%.

The right to vote is a cornerstone of American democracy. Many people fought, and died, to secure the right to vote. Women’s right to vote was at the heart of the women’s movement in the early part of the 20th century. Protecting African Americans’ right to vote was a critical part of the Civil Rights movement and ultimately was embodied in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Later, the Act was amended to include translation of voting materials to ensure that non-native English speakers had access to information and the opportunity to vote.

These victories were hard fought.

Voting is our right. It is also our responsibility. On November 6th, vote as if your life depends on it, because someone’s life will depend on it.

For information on voting rights and other general information, please go to www.rockthevote.org

Author: CIRI President and CEO, Claudia Connor has over twenty-five years of program management, advocacy, and legal and strategic leadership experience in the non-profit sector in the United States, Africa and Southeast Asia.